NPR美国国家公共电台 NPR 2013-08-06

 Major League Baseball is suspending 13 players for using performance-enhancing drugs. Twelve of them have accepted their 50-game penalty. But New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez is getting a more than 200-game suspension that could take him out of play through the 2014 season. He says he's appealing. NPR's Mike Pesca has the latest. 

Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, Everth Cabrera, Antonio Bastardo and a handful of players who are not on active Major League rosters¹ have all been suspended for 50 games. Cruz and Peralta, who played for teams in the playoff hunt, can return by the post season. Alex Rodriguez will reportedly appeal his suspension, which is for 211 games including all of next season. Rodriguez is, in fact, playing in his first game of the season after coming off the disabled list and will play during his appeal. Baseball commissioner² Bud Selig explained that Rodriguez’s longer sentence was for an attempt to cover up the investigation³ that led to these suspensions. Mike Pesca, NPR News. 

The State Department is keeping 19 overseas diplomatic posts closed for the rest of the week. NPR's Ari Shapiro reports this is on top of a global travel alert suggesting that al-Qaeda may be planning an attack on US interests abroad. 

White House spokesman Jay Carney says the decision to keep these embassies closed a few extra days does not come from new intelligence, but rather a reassessment of the same intelligence that initially⁴ led the US to close some embassies late last week, and Carney says the US is not certain about the intended targets. 

“The threat is emanating⁵ from and may be directed towards the Arabian Peninsula, but it is beyond that, potentially, and that is why we have taken some of the actions we've taken and we can't be more specific than that.” 

He says the available information suggests that al-Qaeda may try to stage attacks between now and the end of August. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House. 

Emergency workers in Afghanistan and Pakistan are struggling to rescue and assist victims of flash floods. NPR's Sean Carberry reports that in eastern Afghanistan the death toll⁶ has risen to more than 80, and many people remain unaccounted for. 

Several days of heavy rain triggered flash floods in at least six different provinces in eastern Afghanistan. Officials say hundreds of houses have been washed away along with roads and agricultural land. The hardest-hit area is the Sorobi district of eastern Kabul province where dozens have died. Many of the bodies are being recovered miles downriver. Heavy deforestation and poor construction of houses in rural areas are exacerbating⁷ the flood damage. Officials expect the death toll to climb as emergency responders struggle with poor infrastructure⁸ and mountainous terrain⁹ to make their way into remote villages. Sean Carberry, NPR News, Kabul. 

Before the closing bell, Dow Jones Industrial Average down 46 points at 15,612, NASDAQ was up three at 3,693, and the S&P 500 off three points at 1,707. You’re listening to NPR News. 

The global campaign to fight hunger has made a breakthrough of sorts. Scientists have produced their first lab-grown hamburger. It was sampled at a news conference today in London. NPR's Philip Reeves reports the prospects¹⁰ for what this could mean for feeding the world were arguably more appetizing than the burger's actual taste. 

The burger is intended as an ethical¹¹, environmentally friendly way to produce meat in the face of growing global demand. It's made from tiny strips of muscle grown from cow stem cells at an institute in the Netherlands. Scientists there say it currently takes 440,000 cows to make 175 million burgers. Yet it should eventually be possible to make the same amount with cells from one cow. A food scientist who is one of two people to taste the burger today says it's pretty similar to meat but not very juicy. It also is a lot more expensive. The burger cost more than 330,000 dollars to develop in a project bankrolled by Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Philip Reeves, NPR News, London. 

Closing arguments are wrapping up in James Whitey Bulger's racketeering trial. The reputed Boston mob boss is accused of taking part in 19 murders, charges which he is pleaded not guilty. He is also charged with a number of other crimes. For more than 15 years, Bulger was among the most wanted fugitives¹² in the US until 2011 when he was captured. 

The family of a tourist who was killed in a hit-and-run rampage on the crowded Venice Beach boardwalk over the weekend says she was robbed of her life. They issued a statement today on their loss of 32-year-old Alice Gruppioni, who was on her honeymoon¹³ when a man mowed¹⁴ down pedestrians¹⁵ Saturday, injuring 11 people as well. That driver is now in police custody¹⁶. 

1 rosters   

n.花名册( roster的名词复数 )；候选名单v.将（姓名）列入值勤名单( roster的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Teams have until Monday, Oct. 29 to set their rosters. 球队可以在下周一之前，即10月29确定他们的15人常规赛名单。 来自互联网
• Rosters, R& R, FIFO or country-based lifestyle limiting your opportunities? 枯燥单调的生活方式限制了你的机会？ 来自互联网

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

5 emanating   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• Even so, there is a slight odour of potpourri emanating from Longfellow. 纵然如此，也还是可以闻到来自朗费罗的一种轻微的杂烩的味道。 来自辞典例句
• Many surface waters, particularly those emanating from swampy areas, are often colored to the extent. 许多地表水，特别是由沼泽地区流出的地表水常常染上一定程度的颜色。 来自辞典例句

6 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

7 exacerbating   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This pedagogical understretch is exacerbating social inequalities. 这种教学张力不足加重了社会不平等。 来自互联网
• High fertilizer prices are exacerbating the problem. 高涨的肥料价格更加加剧了问题的恶化。 来自互联网

8 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

9 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

10 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

11 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

12 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

13 honeymoon   

n.蜜月（假期）；vi.度蜜月

参考例句：

• While on honeymoon in Bali,she learned to scuba dive.她在巴厘岛度蜜月时学会了带水肺潜水。
• The happy pair are leaving for their honeymoon.这幸福的一对就要去度蜜月了。

14 mowed   

v.刈，割( mow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The enemy were mowed down with machine-gun fire. 敌人被机枪的火力扫倒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Men mowed the wide lawns and seeded them. 人们割了大片草地的草，然后在上面播种。 来自辞典例句

15 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。